It is a very common practice for people to display flags or banners from their homes. Typically, a homeowner desiring to display a flag simply goes to a store that sells flags and flagstaffs and purchases a flagstaff that is typically mounted to the side of a house or a post on a porch that is typically mounted on an angle and the flag then is attached to the angled flagstaff.
Common flags sold in this manner are sized at 2′×3′; 2.5′×4′; 3′×5′; and 4′×6′; with the 3′×5′ size being the most common. Government Specification U.S. flags should be sized in a 1:1.9 hoist to fly ratio (the 3′×5′ flag size is a 1:1.67 hoist to fly ratio, i.e., a bit smaller in ratio from the length from the flagstaff to horizontal measurement than an ‘official’ U.S. flag). The longer the flag to its height, and the greater the angle from vertical the mount, the more likely a wind event is to cause the flag to wrap around the flag pole in a manner that the flag gets stuck and does not unwrap on its own.
It is a well known in the flag flying art that when flags are displayed on fully vertical poles, i.e., free standing flagstaffs not attached to a building or otherwise mounted on a flat roof in a completely vertical orientation, there is very little wrapping of the flag around the flagstaff, and even when there is some wrapping, the flag freely falls and unwraps itself. It is when the flagstaff is mounted at an angle, as it typically is when mounted to the side of a house or a house or porch post, and all the way to a fully horizontal mount, i.e., 90 degrees to the fully vertical orientation, that flag wrapping around the flagstaff, called furling, becomes a major problem. Firstly, the furling issue is heightened as to happening in the first instance as a result of the hanging angle of the flag; and, when it occurs, the flag does not unfurl itself, i.e., when the wind ceases, the flag remains wrapped around the flag pole. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,167 describing the furling problem and as being particularly acute where the flagstaff is at a 45 degree angle with the vertical.
There have been many attempts to solve the flag furling problem. For example, the patent just noted above, U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,167, entitled FLAG MOUNTING DEVICE, provides “a device for preventing a flag from wrapping around a flagpole, especially one which is inclined at an angle with the vertical. The flag is mounted along one edge to a support member which in turn is pivotally mounted for rotation about the flagpole. A semi-flexible rod is sewn into the hem along a lower edge of the flag. This semi-flexible rod is pivotally attached to the support member such that it can pivot from a position perpendicular to the support member to a position essentially parallel with the support member. Thus, the flag can be stored by folding the semi-flexible rod parallel with the support member and the material of the flag wrapped around the support member and/or the flagpole. When not in storage, the semi-flexible rod extends the lower portion of the flag outward from the flagpole effectively preventing the flag from wrapping back around the flagpole and becoming entangled.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,627, entitled FLAG AND FLAGPOLE ATTACHMENT, discloses “an attachment device for mounting on a flagpole and for releasable attachment to an edge portion of a flag from entanglement with adjacent structures and also from wrapping around the flagpole. The attachment device includes a pole mounting bracket adapted for receipt on a portion of the flagpole. A control arm is pivotally mounted in a holder disposed in the pole mounting bracket and is capable of extending outwardly therefrom positioned along and parallel to an edge portion of the flag. A removable clip is used for attaching the edge portion of the flag to the control arm, thereby allowing the opposed edge of the flag to flow freely. The control arm is positioned with respect to the pole mounting bracket in a manner which allows it to pivot around the pole in a range of less than 360 degrees, thereby preventing the flag from wrapping around the pole of from becoming entangled in adjacent structure.”
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,321, entitled FLAG-BANNER SUPPORT ASSEMBLY, discloses “a flag or banner assembly wherein a flag or banner hangs from a generally horizontal staff and wherein an arm or rod extends downward from the staff and attaches to a lower region of the flag or banner wherein wrapping of the flag or banner around the staff is substantially reduced or prevented.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,707,960, entitled FLAG RESTRAINT, discloses “an apparatus for the prevention of flag entanglement upon a flagstaff that is comprised of a specifically milled wood block which acts as an attaching mechanism to the flagstaff and is the hinge point for a metal rod that is attached to the flag. The hinge point of the block allows the rod to swing in a 180 degree arc from the 90 degrees to the 270 degrees. The length of the rod being equal to or greater that the width of the flag in conjunction with the hinge block action prevents the flag from flipping over and tangling on the staff.”
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,881,669, entitled WRAP PREVENTING FLAG APPARATUS, discloses “a wrap preventing flag apparatus including a rod extending from the upper portion of a flagpole in a gravity plane with an attachment securing the top edge of a flag to the rod. A rod support inter-connects the rod and the upper portion of the flagpole for preventing the rod from rotating about the pole axis while allowing free rotation of the rod under the force of gravity only in the gravity plane. The rod support includes a pair of stops for limiting the rotation of the rod in or parallel to the gravity plane. In the first embodiment, the rod support extends into an especially fabricated flagpole whereas the rod support of the second embodiment includes a first bracket which is disposed about an existing flagpole for securing the rod support to the flagpole.
The flag support and furl prevention devices provided in the foregoing examples are complicated, all requiring some sort of rotational movement of the flagstaff or portion thereof or pivotal movement of a securing arm. There is generally a complicated connection between the mounting bracket to the flag pole and the support arm itself. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,167 requires a semi-flexible rod sewn into a hem of the flag allowing for the secured edge to flex or pivot. U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,627 teaches up to 360 degree rotation around the flagstaff. U.S. Pat. No. 7,707,960 teaches up to 180 degree rotation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,321 employs two inter-connected eye hooks to attach the support rod to the flagstaff mounting ring that allow an undisclosed amount of movement, ostensibly dependent upon the size of the eye hooks, which is undisclosed in the Specification. Moreover, in this ‘eye hook’ scenario, the flag itself is attached to the flagstaff using similar type eye hooks allowing movement. This configuration will produce an unnecessary amount of stress on the flag material in windy conditions and will not prevent an unsupported portion of the flag from folding and getting pinched within the mechanism. Moreover, eye hooks are prone to becoming unhooked with excessive manipulation. U.S. Pat. No. 8,881,669 recognizes the need to prevent rotation around the flagstaff axis, but nevertheless teaches that free rotation in the gravity plane is desirable. And, this patent teaches that the support rod attaches to the top edge of the flag. In this embodiment, in windy and wet conditions, if the flag rotates downward in the gravity plane, the flag will still be able to wrap around the pole axis and get tangled.
Thus, none of the disclosed references, or any other of the many duplicative references found, disclose a simple one-piece construction device, simple to install and simple in design, that is static once mounted (actually teaching away from all of the noted references), that results in an inexpensive device that is effective in preventing flag furl in any weather conditions. It will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, that this disclosure teaches a one-piece, simple support rod, that does not allow any rotation whatsoever, extending only so far as is necessary based on the size of the flag along the bottom edge, with a simple attachment mechanism for use with any existing flagstaff and flag.
This disclosure teaches that rotation is not only not necessary, it is in fact, undesirable, i.e., all of the foregoing references and those not referenced but that are merely duplicative, teach away from the instant disclosure. Moreover, the simple design here encompasses an easy to employ one piece design whereby the support rod has a mounting ring component, sized to just slide over an existing flagstaff (with different sizes contemplated for various size flagstaffs and various flag dimensions) and is secured into place to prevent any movement once installed. Then, the support rod itself, its length chosen within a specific range based on the dimensions of the flag as described below (but not the entire length of the flag thereby allowing the flag to hang naturally along at least a portion of its length), is attached to the bottom edge of the flag as described in one of the many embodiments below. Once attached as described, a triangular portion of the flag (the triangle formed by the line of the attachment edge of the flag to the flagstaff, the line of the attached bottom edge of the flag to the support rod and the imaginary line that joins the preceding two lines and completing the triangle) remains taut and displayed. The remaining portion of the flag hangs freely, but in any windy or wet conditions, is incapable of reaching around itself to get tangled or wrapped around itself, the flagstaff or any adjacent structure.
Thus, all of the disclosed references provide devices that are complicated, expensive, introduce extra components, rotate or pivot somehow and do not actually accomplish all that is intended, and/or create additional stress that will prematurely ruin the flag. Therefore, there exists a need to provide a flag furl prevention device that is simple, simple to install, reliable, inexpensive, and does not have any adverse effect on the flag itself.
This disclosure teaches solutions to the problem of flag furl and in one embodiment, provides a one-piece, simple, simple to deploy, inexpensive, support arm that is immoveable once deployed. It is to be appreciated that this disclosure teaches a device that, simply by manufacturing its size according to the dimensions of the flag and flagstaff, is capable of implementing with any existing correspondingly sized flag and flagstaff. No other special limitations need be implemented.